Greg http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/word_tips.htm said:
Keith,
That's helpful and like saying, "Greg, do you have a slide rule? Why
not send a man to the moon."
I don't know how to do the deed. That is why I am asking questions. I
know that the answer "Get in the cockpit and operate the controls" is
perfectly good answer to the question "How do I fly a 747?" However,
at the end of the day this novice pilot would either still be on the
ground or have a hell of a mess on his hands.
I already have a brand new perfectly functioning 160G drive containing
my OS, Programs, and Data that I simply want to copy its entire content
to a brand new larger 250G drive.
Then I want the PC to boot (without sticking, or removing sound cards,
etc.) on that new drive. In the end, I want the new drive to have the
same drive letters that the old one had . I admit that it sounds
simple, but trust me it isn't if you don't know how.
Right now I don't care if I put the smaller disk back into the machine
or not.
Would you care to share your simple steps using WindowsXP.
Greg:
We'll try this one more time, again using the Ghost 2003 program which I've
used hundreds & hundreds of times to successfully clone the contents of one
HD to another HD, working with hundreds of XP-based systems and virtually
every HD on the market. Before I provide you (and others) with the detailed
instructions involved, let me make the following points.
1. This is *not* complicated business. Using the Ghost 2003 program in an XP
environment is a relatively simple & straightforward process.
2. It (nearly) goes without saying, that in order for the cloning process to
be successful, both the source (the disk you're cloning from) and the
destination (the disk you're cloning to) disks must be non-defective and
properly connected/configured in your system.
3. The OS you're cloning must be free from system files corruption. ("If you
clone garbage, garbage is what you'll get").
And that's it. The precise steps to directly clone the contents from one HD
to another HD using the Ghost 2003 program are simple & effective.
Here's my previous post (slightly edited) to you...
Since you have Symantec's Norton Ghost 2003, here are step-by-step
instructions for creating a Ghost 2003 bootable floppy disk and then using
that floppy disk to clone the contents of your working HD to another
internal or external HD...
(You needn't be unduly concerned with using this DOS-based media with the
Ghost 2003 program. There are no complicated or exotic DOS commands that you
need to invoke. As a matter of fact, there are *no* DOS or DOS-like commands
to enter. The entire process is simple, straightforward, and quite
effective)
But before I get to the actual step-by-step instructions, I want to make the
following points so that you (and others who might be interested in a disk
imaging program) understand how *we* use this program to achieve our desired
objective which is to *directly* clone the contents of one HD to another
HD...
1. We use the Ghost 2003 program for one purpose, and only one purpose. And
that is to *directly* clone the contents of one hard drive to another hard
drive. We are not interested in "incremental or scheduled backups", nor are
we interested in creating "disk images" on removable media, e.g., DVDs. Our
sole interest & objective is to create & maintain a near-failsafe backup
system for restoration purposes.
2. It is *vital*, repeat *vital*, that you work with the latest version of
the Ghost 2003 program. That's the Ghost 2003.793 build. Should you have an
earlier version, you can use Symantec's LiveUpdate feature available in the
Ghost program to download & automatically install that latest update.
3. We prefer to work with the Ghost 2003 program rather than its successor
Ghost 9 & Ghost 10 programs. For our purposes, we find the 2003 version more
straightforward in design, simpler to use, faster in carrying out its
function than the newer versions. And, I might add, just as effective for
the purposes indicated. Again, I emphasize that we use the program solely
for the *direct* cloning of the contents of one HD to another HD.
4. In using the Ghost 2003 program, our preference is to work with the Ghost
2003 bootable floppy disk (or on occasion the Ghost 2003 bootable CD). We
find that media simpler to use in comparison with the Windows GUI and we
enjoy the portability aspects of that media.
5. We are aware, of course, that there are other fine disk imaging products
on the market, e.g,, Acronis True Image, and I do not mean to suggest that
the Ghost program is superior to them. If practical, a user should try as
many out as he or she can, and make their own decision as to what works best
for them.
So, here are step-by-step instructions for using the Ghost 2003 program
(using a Ghost 2003 bootable floppy disk or bootable CD) to directly clone
the contents of one HD to another HD...
Creating the bootable Ghost floppy disk:
1. Install the Ghost 2003 program on your computer. Make sure you're using
the latest "build" - Ghost 2003.793. If not, use Ghost's LiveUpdate feature
to automatically download the latest version. It's important that you be
using this latest "build".
2. Insert a blank floppy disk (it need not be formatted) and access your
Ghost program.
3. Click on Ghost Utilities.
4. Click on Norton Ghost Boot Wizard.
5. Select Standard Ghost Boot Disk. A dialog box will appear.
a. Select the USB 2.0 Support option (assuming you have that
capability).
b. Select the Assign DOS drive letters option and click Next.
6. Select the Use PC-DOS option.
7. Complete the process following the screen prompts.
8. Remove floppy and label accordingly.
That's it. Now you have a Ghost bootable floppy disk which you can use to
undertake your cloning operations now and in the future. Now when you want
to clone the contents of one HD to another HD you simply insert the Ghost
bootable floppy disk in your floppy drive and boot up with both drives
connected.
After creating the Ghost bootable floppy disk, you can create a Ghost
bootable CD from it using the Roxio or Nero CD burning programs, or most
other CD burning programs that allow you to create a bootable CD.
Unfortunately I know of no way to *directly* create this bootable CD from
the Ghost program (as you can do, for example, in the Acronis True Image
program).
Here's how to perform the cloning operation...
1. With both drives connected, boot up with the Ghost bootable floppy (or
Ghost bootable CD). You'll get an initial screen that displays "License
agreement warning". Right-arrow (or tab) over to the "Continue without
marking drives" button and press Enter.
2. The "About Norton Ghost" screen appears. Click OK.
3. Right-arrow twice over to the "To Disk" button and press Enter.
4. The next screen will list both your drives - the Drive 1 (source disk)
and Drive 2 (destination disk). MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN Drive 1 IS INDEED
YOUR SOURCE DISK, I.E., THE DISK YOU'RE CLONING *FROM*!
Drive 1 will be highlighted. Press Enter.
5. The next screen will have Drive 2 (destination disk) highlighted. AGAIN,
ENSURE THAT Drive 2 IS YOUR DESTINATION DISK, I.E., THE DISK YOU'RE CLONING
*TO*! Press Enter.
6. The next screen is the "Destination Drive Details" window, and reflects
your ultimate destination disk, i.e., your current Drive 2. Press your Tab
key to highlight the OK button and press Enter.
7. The "Proceed with disk clone?" dialog box will open. Left-arrow over to
the Yes button and press Enter.
8. The cloning process will begin. The data transfer speed will vary
depending upon the speed of your processor and the HDs involved. On a medium
to high-powered system you should get transfer speeds ranging from 800
MB/min to 1.5 GB/min should you be cloning internal drives. It will be
considerably slower if you're cloning to a USB external HD.
9. After you get the "Clone Completed Successfully" message, left-arrow over
to the Continue button and press Enter.
10. Down-arrow to Quit and press Enter.
11. Click Yes at the "Are you sure you want to quit?" message.
12. Remove the Ghost floppy and shut down the computer.
13. Disconnect your source disk and boot up with the cloned drive.
Presumably it should boot up without a problem and in about 40 to 50 seconds
following arriving at your Desktop, XP's "System Settings Change" window
will (usually) appear, informing you that new hardware has been found and
asks "Do you want to restart your computer now?" Click Yes.
14. BTW, the reboot of the newly-cloned drive usually takes a longer time
than usual, so one must be patient. On rare occasions the system will fail
to reboot - the system will hang before reaching the Windows XP Welcome
screen. It's a rare occurrence, but you may experience it from time-to-time.
If that does occur, simply use the Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys to reboot.
Assuming you've cloned the contents of your working drive to your second
internal drive, that second drive will be bootable (after disconnecting your
primary one, of course) as indicated above. You also have the option of
cloning your working drive to a USB external hard drive. In that case the
USB EHD is *not* bootable, but you could clone the contents back to your
internal drive for restoration purposes should the need arise.
Just one other point I wish to emphasize with respect to the cloning
operation involving internal drives. Immediately following the cloning
operation and the shutdown of your machine, disconnect your source drive and
boot ONLY to the newly-cloned drive (as indicated in step 13. above). DO NOT
BOOT IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE CLONING OPERATION WITH BOTH DRIVES CONNECTED.
Doing so is likely to cause future boot problems with the cloned drive.
Obviously there is no problem in this area should a USBEHD be involved in
the cloning process since that device is not bootable in an XP environment.
I trust the above will be of use to you and others who might be thinking
about using the Ghost 2003 program for a routine backup system.
Anna
P.S.
1. Read that last paragraph carefully. It may answer the question as to why
you're having your present problem.
2. I know you've now indicated that you're working with the Ghost 9 program.
As I previously informed you, after working with that program for a short
time, I saw no advantages to it over the Ghost 2003 program in terms of the
basic direct disk-to-disk cloning that we're interested in. So I'm not
particularly familiar with that program.
3. While I didn't cover using the Ghost 2003 program to clone individual
partitions in the above step-by-step instructions, this capability exists in
the Ghost 2003 program and it's no more difficult to achieve than creating a
clone of the entire disk. We rarely have need to clone individual
partitions, preferring to clone the contents of the entire drive instead.
But if you need this capability, it's there. (I might mention in passing
that based on our experience with the Acronis True Image 8 program, that
program does *not* have the capability of *directly* cloning individual
partitions from one drive to another. At least we couldn't find that
capability. Not having worked with the ATI 9 program, I don't know if that
capability now exists).
